Out of all the DC Earths that have been on DC TV and Arrowverse the most, Earth-2 is one of the more popular ones. Over the last decade, the DC Multiverse has rapidly become increasingly appealing throughout many Warner Bros. properties. The Arrowverse has been a primary franchise to explore the concept of multiple Earths, giving new takes on various DC heroes and villains. Through alternative realities, the DC Multiverse has allowed storytellers to flesh out their DC shows. It was through the Arrowverse that the iconic DC storyline, Crisis on Infinite Earths, was able to come to life and change the status quo for WB's Multiverse from now on.
Thanks to the Arrowverse, DC TV became crucial for the studio by establishing that every past, present, and future DC live-action property is part of the Multiverse. Over the decades, various characters have gotten reimagined on TV and film, with Batman, Superman, The Flash, and many more. But instead of ignoring what came before, the Arrowverse leaned into it by setting the foundation of how every DC live-action project is, in one way or another, still connected.
When it comes to various Earths in the DC canon, Earth-2 has surprisingly gotten utilized in multiple interpretations. While the Arrowverse is the DC franchise to used the Multiverse the most, Earth-2 has been present in other live-action adaptations. Before The Flash season 2 introduced viewers to Earth-2, other DC shows had done their takes on that specific reality.
Earth-2 On Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman
In the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episodes "Tempus Anyone?" and "Lois and Clarks," they explore the Multiverse through Earth-2. During "Tempus Anyone?" Lois gets trapped in an alternative dimension where Clark never became the Man of Steel. Not only had he never met Lois in the world, but Clark was also engaged to Lana Lang. The Earth-2 Lois had been declared dead after vanishing several years ago in this world. While Clark still has his powers, Lana kept him from becoming a superhero, worried how the world would react if he exposed himself.
But by meeting the Lois from the other world, Clark became inspired to become Superman of Earth-2. Additionally, Jimmy Olsen was the Daily Planet's owner and editor-in-chief while Perry White had gone running for mayor. In "Lois and Clarks," the Earth-2 Superman crosses over during Tempest's latest shenanigans as he had trapped the other Clark in a time loop. While Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman became the first live-action property to play with the Earth-2 concept, it would certainly not be the last.
Earth-2 On Smallville
In Smallville season 10, episode 10, "Luthor," the Superman prequel explores the Multiverse for the first time. When Clark finds a mysterious Kryptonian box and activates it, he gets sent to an alternative reality that the show dubs Earth-2. But by activating it, Clark's doppelganger got sent to Earth-1 (which Crisis on Infinite Earths confirmed to be Earth-167), but this version is the opposite of the DC hero. On Earth-2, Clark was never found by the Kents when he crashed on Earth. Instead, Lionel Luthor discovered and raised him as Clark Luthor, a.k.a Ultraman. During his history, Clark murdered Earth-2's Lex and became a tyrant in this reality.
In the episode "Kent," Earth-167's Clark gets sent back to Earth-2 thanks to Ultraman, who destroys the mirror box so he could stay on Earth-167 forever. Clark discovers that since "Luthor," Ultraman has killed Oliver Queen, making Lois a widow. Clark also encounters Earth-2's Jonathan Kent, who he manages to convince to turn his life around. Once Clark gets back to Earth-167, he encourages Ultraman to try to seek redemption in his world. While Smallville called it Earth-2, this reality was more based on Earth-3, the home of the Crime Syndicate. This reality, however, is later destroyed in Smallville season 11 that made its own adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Earth-2 In The Arrowverse (Pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths)
In The Flash season 2, the Arrowverse explores the Multiverse by introducing Earth-2 through Hunter Zolomon, who posed as Jay Garrick before being revealed as Zoom. That is also how The Flash came to use multiple versions of Harrison Wells throughout the seasons, starting with Harry. Their Earth-2 is visually stylized through a combination of the 1940s and 21st-century elements, at least in Central City. When Arrow season 8 featured Earth-2's Starling City, it conflicts a bit with what The Flash had established with this alternative Earth. In the Arrow season 8 premiere, Earth-2's Starling City looks almost the same as Earth-1's Star City, with some of the characters having different roles here.
In Black Lightning season 3, Episode 10, "The Book of Resistance: Chapter Four: Earth Crisis," Jennifer Pierce comes face-to-face with her Earth-1 and Earth-2 doppelgangers, Gen and Jinn. When they explored Jinn's history on Earth-2, that world's Freeland was visually almost the same as Jennifer's Freeland in Black Lightning's Earth. While visually, Earth-2 has had different looks across the Arrowverse shows, the history for most of the characters is very different. While The Flash, Arrow, and Black Lightning had contradicting designs for Earth-2, that would ultimately not matter since this was only one version of Earth-2 for the Arrowverse.
Earth-2 On Stargirl (Post-Crisis On Infinite Earths)
Long before Stargirl premiered on DC Universe and The CW, the Arrowverse made it clear from the start that it would connect to the franchise, but with a twist. When Olive Queen as The Spectre rebooted the Multiverse, Earth-2 was reborn as the universe where Courtney Whitmore lives. During a montage in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, The CW revealed that Stargirl and the new Justice Society of America exist on Earth-2 as it was no longer the home of Black Siren, Jesse Quick, and other relevant characters. Unlike the original Earth-2, Stargirl looks like it has an entirely contemporary 21st-century design to it.
The most significant difference with Stargirl's Earth-2 is that the Justice Society of America is the equivalent of what the Justice League is, rather than only being a team for the 1940s. While the history of the JSA has gone back as far as 1941 on Earth-2, the Golden Age version was active until 2010. There doesn't seem to appear there is a Justice League on Earth-2, with the new JSA instead servicing that role. While their Earth-2 is entirely new, Stargirl still includes the Arrowverse through John Wesley Shipp's Jay Garrick, who has become retroactively established from this universe instead of Earth-3 pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Possible Earth-2 In DC Movies
Despite Stargirl's Earth-2 being the current live-action iteration, the DCEU might be tackling Earth-2 as well. The Batman is reportedly going to place on Earth-2, which has yet to be clarified by Warner Bros. and DC Films. Since Crisis on Infinite Earths, and even via DC FanDome, Warner Bros. has established that they have one live-action DC Multiverse, rather than one for TV and one for films. The reference of The Batman taking place on Earth-2 came from The Hollywood Reporter that had defined the upcoming Batman reboot's Earth designation as Earth-2. But that does not mean that The Batman uses the same universe as Stargirl or doing its own take on Earth-2.
More than anything, it was probably the outlet's way to exemplify how The Batman is not part of the DCEU but exists within the Multiverse. It would be quite an exciting experiment if The Batman and Stargirl were somehow on the same Earth-2. What would it look like if a DC TV show and an upcoming DC movie were in the same world? Nothing says that it couldn't work since one can exist with the other without having to be together in a scene necessarily. But until Warner Bros. and DC Films say otherwise, The Batman is not on Earth-2 and probably has a different Earth-designated number.
Nonetheless, it is still incredible that Earth-2 has gotten as much exposure as it has, primarily through the Arrowverse. The longer the DC Multiverse keeps going, the more alternative worlds DC properties can explore in live-action. While there have been alternative takes on it, it is good to see that Stargirl gets to be the DC property to resemble Earth-2's counterpart the most in DC TV.